Free Christmas Tree Coloring Page - For Kids AND Grown-Ups!

Those "grown up" coloring pages are so popular right now.  Well, I happen to have made a few coloring pages myself that grown ups may like just as much as kids!  Below is a fun Scribbleprints Christmas Tree Coloring Page I made...great for some grown up fun or  occupying little ones during holiday car trips!  I could even see printing this on cardstock a little smaller and making an ornament with it. 

Click on the picture below for the printer size version.

(Non commercial or classroom use only)

I also have several other designs to choose from.

If you or your little one color one of my coloring pages and would like to share what you made, please e-mail me at ecarian at yahoo dot com and show me it! Let me know if I can use it as an example on my site (both here and on Scribbleprints), and if you post it up on your blog send me the link so I can link to it. :-)

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Shared On:  Throwback Thursday

Dover History Printables Samples - By Era

 

Below are links to various coloring pages and other printables from Dover's Free Sample related to different periods of history.  I am not sure how long Dover will keep these up, so you may want to download these to save for later.    If you are looking for a specific historical figure, you may want to check out the list organized by person (which may have some items not found here).  

I'll be updating this page frequently.  

Prehistoric Times
Dinosaurs and Fossils 

Dinosaur Extinction

Dinosaur Dot to Dot

Triceratops Clothespin Craft
Ice Age Animals
Inventing the Wheel  Part 2

Maps and Misc.
Explorers - Includes Modern and Ancient Maps

Ancient Egypt
Egyptian Cat Paper Doll
Bastet (Egyptian Goddess)

Ancient Rome and Greece
2nd Century Roman Mosaic
Medusa

Ancient China
Chinese Cat Paper Doll

Ancient+ Medieval Japan
Amaterasu:   Japanese Sun Goddess

Ancient to Medieval Europe (also see 1400s)
A Celtic House Coloring Page (Iron Age to Medieval)
Celtic Knotwork Coloring Pages 
Celtic Knotwork Colring Pages II
How to Draw Celtic Knotwork
Illuminated Manuscripts
Vikings Coloring Pages
St. Patrick Coloring Page (5th Century)
Medieval Tapestries
Medeival Cat Paper Doll
Marco Polo - born 1254 
Fairy Tale Castle


1400's
Columbus (1492 voyage)
Columbus II
Arawak/Taino People (Central America, time of Columbus)

1500's
Leonardo da Vinci 2 3 4 (Mona Lisa - Artwork by) 1506
Raphael (Painting, The Sistine Madonna)
William Shakespeare -  born 1564
Japanese Cultural Items (Various)
- Kimonos originated in Heian Period (794-1185) and didn't fall out of fashion until the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Teapots were invented in China during the Yuan Dynasty 1271 to 1368, Origami was invented between 500-600 AD and pinwheels were used in China as early as 700AD, but the patterned Chiyogami papers pictured in that coloring page weren't invented until the Edo period (1603 to 1867)

1600's
Plymouth Colony - Founded 1620
Mayflower (Not a complete sample of paper ship, but the diagrams are good)
Squanto
Japanese Cultural Items (Various)
- Kimonos originated in Heian Period (794-1185) and didn't fall out of fashion until the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Teapots were invented in China during the Yuan Dynasty 1271 to 1368, Origami was invented between 500-600 AD and pinwheels were used in China as early as 700AD, but the patterned Chiyogami papers pictured in that coloring page weren't invented until the Edo period (1603 to 1867)

1700's
13 Colonies Crossword
George Washington, Resource 2, 3, 4, 5
Alexander Hamilton 2  3
Revolutionary War Battles
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - January 27, 1756
American History Jokes
American Artwork by Benjamin West  - 1775
Polonesian Islands and Captain James Cook - November 7, 1728
Neopolitan Baroque Angel
US Constitution 1789
US Constitution Articles
Liberty Bell

1800's
Victorian Fashion
Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1805) 
War of 1812 Naval Battle
John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed)
Jane Austen (author)
1800s Embroidery (book sample, related to Jane Austen)
Charles Dickens (author)
Jules Verne  (author)
H. G. Wells (author)
Mark Twain (author)
Harriet Tubman
Sojourner Truth
Oregon Trail (1830's - 1860's)
California Gold Rush (around 1849)
California and Texas Cowboys
Wagon Train (Oregon Train and Gold Rush)
Clipper Ship, around time of Gold Rush (1859)
Zachary Taylor - (US Pres 1849 - 1850)
Andrew Jackson (US Pres 1829 - 1837)
Julia Dent Grant (Wife of Ulysses S. Grant)
Pony Express (1860s)
Civil War, 2 (1861 - 1865)
Abraham Lincoln  2,  3, 4, 5 (US Pres 1861- 1865)
Abraham Lincoln Signs Emancipation Proclamation - January 1, 1863
How I Spied on General Grant, By Dr. Seuss, pg2 - 1861
Guilded Age Fashion Paper Dolls (from about 1860 - 1890s)
Artwork by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 2 3 (Various from 1866 - 1896)
Republican Split of 1867, By Dr. Seuss - 1867
Artwork by Claude Monet, Resource 2, 3 ( artworks from the 1860s - 80's)
Louisa May Alcott - Published Little Women 1868
Victorian Fashion (1874 -1880)
Victorian Paper Dolls
Degas-  Artwork 1875
Cassatt, Mary  - Artwork, 1879
Rutherford B. Hayes - (US Pres 1877-1881)
Painting by Degas (1880)
Wyatt Earp O.K. Corral Shootout (1881),
Coloring Page - Artwork by Berth Morisot - 1886
Coloring Page - Artwork (Mostly from 1800) - 1888
2 Van Gogh Artworks - 1888
Van Gogh Spot the Diffference Artwork - 1889
Art Nouveau Designs 
Art Nouveau Fashions (1890 - early 1900s)
Artwork by Paul Cézanne  (Various, Mid to Late 1800s...includes self portrait)
Artworks by Paul Cezanne (including self-portrait) - Late 1800's
Paul Cézanne (Arwork by) 1885
Artwork by Thomas Eakins (1873)  - Go to Next Page for Puzzle
Artwork by Vincent Van Gogh (Starry Night -1889)
Benjamin Harrison (US Pres 1889 - 1893)
Frederic Remington - 1892
X-Ray Invented Part 2 - 1895

1900's
Art Nouveau Fashions (1890 - early 1900s)
Turn of the Century Fashion
Theodore (Teddy) Rosevelt - (President 1901-1909)
Women (re-imagined Harrison Fisher style coloring pages)
Louis C. Tiffany  (Artwork by - 1800s to 1900s)
Chanel Fashion Paperdolls (1914, 1916)
English Downtown Abby Style Paperdolls (1912 -1924)
Harry Clarke (Artwork By)
Charles Folkard (Artwork by)
Helen Jacobs (Artwork by)
Julia Morgan  (Architect who designed in California in the 1900s -40s)

1920's
Roaring 20's
Jazz Age Fashion
1920's Swimsuit (Paperdoll)
Babe Ruth
Greta Garbo
Artwork by Thomas Hart Benton - 1922
Great Gatsby (Paperdolls)     - 1925
Great Gatsby Fashion - 1925
Chanel Fashion (Paperdolls)  - 1926, 1927
Art Deco Fashion - 1920s - 1940s


1930's
King Kong - 1933
Coloring Page - Artwork by Beatice Whitney Van Ness - 1936
Greta Garbo
Nelson Mandela - Childhood
Lou Gherig
WWII Comic Book Section


1940s
Christian Dior Fashion Paperdolls - Late 40's, Early 50's
Casa Blanca - Movie - 1942
Nelson Mandela and the Start of Aparteid in South Africa - 1948
Jackie Robinson
Norman Rockwell (artwork by)
Doris Day (Actress) - April 3, 1922 or 1924
WWII



1950s
1950s Fashion
Christian Dior Fashion Paperdolls - Late 40's, Early 50's
Lucille Ball (Actress, Producer)
1950's Fashion Paperdolls
The African Queen (Movie) - 1951
Queen Elizabeth II - (Coronation 1953)
Brown vs. Board of Education/Thurgood Marshall/NAACP - 1954
Rosa Parks 2 1955, Segregation Protest
Martin Luther King
Civil Rights Movement
Artwork by Diego Rivera - 1957
Ozzie and Harriet TV Show - 1952 - 1966
Nelson Mandela (Early Activism)
Katherine Johnson - Nasa
Saturday Evening Post Covers (might be other eras too)



1960's
Segregation/Sit-In Protest - 1960
Martin Luther King  2 
Jacqueline (Jackie) Kennedy - First Lady  1961...
Jane Goodall - Biologist, Studied Chimpanzees
Fashion Paperdolls - 1964
Civil Rights March 2 - Jan 15, 1929 - 1965
Classic Cars 1964 - 69
1960's Swimsuit (Paperdoll)
Fashion Paperdoll - 1968
Pat Nixon (1st Lady to Richard Nixon from 1969...)
Nelson Mandela - Imprisonment


1970's
1970s Fashion Paperdoll - 1970
1970s Fashion Paperdolls - 1970, 1976
1970s Fashion Coloring Pages
American Graffiti (Movie) - 1973
Mary Tyler Moore
Dolly Parton
Rosalyn Carter (First Lady to Jimmy Carter from 1977...)
Annie Hall (Movie) - 1977

1980's
1980s Fashion
Sandra Day O'Connor (first women to be appointed to the Supreme Court, 1981)
Airplane! (Movie) - 1980
The Cosby Show
Julia Robert's Pretty Women Dress
Princess Diana
Princess Diana, Red Dress
Betty White 2 - January 17, 1922
Jimmy Carter (US Pres 1977 - 1981)
Ronald Reagan (US Pres 1981 - 1989)
George Bush (US Pres 1989 - 1993)
Antonin Scalia -  (Supreme Court Justice 1986 - 2016)
Pope John Paul II, 2 (born Karol Józef Wojtyla ) - Pope from 1978 - 2005


1990's
1990's Fashion
Nelson Mandela (End of apartheid and  Presidency), Nobel Peace Prize (1993)
Princess Diana (from 1990s)
Barbara Bush (First Lady, wife of President George Bush, Sr.)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg - (Supreme Court Justice from 1993)
Misty Copeland (Dancer)
Roseanne Cherrie Barr (actress,comedian)
1990's Fashion Paper Dolls 
Global Warming and Wallace Broecker


2000's
World Trade Center (This page says "is the tallest" so it was made before the 9/11 attacks in 2001)
Tina Fey (Actress, Comedian)
Avatar (Movie) - 2009
Barak Obama, 2- President 2008 - 2016
Michelle Obama - First Lady 2008 - 2016
Kate Middleton and Prince William , 2 (2011 - 2013)
Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, Princess of Wales , 3 4 5
Meghan Markel, Duchess of Sussex 2
Donald Trump -  President 2017 - 2020
Joe Biden - President 2021 - 2024
Kamala Harris - Vice President (first woman VP), 2021 -
Pope Francis 2, 3 (Jorge Mario Bergoglio)  Became Pope 2013
College of Cardinals (responsible for picking a new Pope)
St Peters Basiica (though built in 1600's, this I believe is a modern drawing of it)
Penny Dreadful TV Series (Set in Victorian Time)
Halle Berry
Angelina Jolie
Reese Witherspoon
Simone Biles
Prince Henry and Meagan Markle 
Meagan (Markle), Duchess of Sussex
 


US Government, Symbols, ETC.
US Flag
White House
Bald Eagle

I'm not affiliated with Dover Publishing.

More History Resources

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Shared on Dear Homeschooler Bookshelf and Throwback Thursday

Kindergarten Curriculum Review

This post contains affiliate links through which I can earn commission.

Below are the curriculum and materials we used for our first year of homeschooling, both ones we purchased and free resources we found.  I didn't get all my curriculum at once...I gradually added curriculum as the year progressed and I got a feeling for how my child learned.

We are still using all of these this year, though some of course at different levels.

READING AND LANGUAGE ARTS

I looked at a lot of reading programs...and I finally decided on none.  My son had already started blending simple words, and before we had even decided for sure we were homeschooling, we had started working through some simple readers, and that was working well so we stuck with it.  So, while we didn't use an "all in one" reading program, here's what we did use for reading, writing, and spelling....

Bob Books

I like the Bob Books Beginning Readers because, while simple,  the stories incorporate humor (my son laughs at a lot of the pictures, and laughter is great homeschooling medicine).  Compared to "real books" of course the stories are pared down, but that's the nature of readers.  They are meant to give a child an easy way to practice reading that gradually ads new reading concepts, and doesn't include "tricky words" (unless that's what they are introducting).    I also like the "Hooked On Phonics" readers, which we supplemented with as we had an incomplete set of those as well.  (NOTE that Bob Books do not explicitly teach the phonics, so you will need something else, like Progressive Phonics Below or another phonics program, to cover phonics more specifically.   In retrospect, I wish I had started with that earlier in stead of relying too heavily on Bob Books at first).



Progressive Phonics

Progressive Phonics is a site with free printable phonics readers and other tools.  I discovered this mid-year when we were struggling with our ch,sh and, th sounds...and someone on a forum suggested this.  It's a great program. Each section starts with an explanation of the new sound you will be learning.   The printable books are full of rhyming poems you read WITH your child.  The words your child should read are in one color, and you read the rest.  This is easier for kids who struggle with reading longer sentences.  I started switching back and forth with this and the Bob Books once I discovered this program.

They also have a free handwriting program which I might have used if I had learned about it earlier.    I did use parts of it to help with b/d reversals.


All About Spelling


 
All About Spelling is SO EASY TO USE.  It's one of those programs that you can open up, skim, take out the materials and start...with no prep.  It's been wonderful for helping my child to learn the rules of spelling.  They also have a reading program too, called All About Reading, which sounds wonderful, but was a little outside our price range.  Their spelling program costs a little less, and much of that is one time cost for materials that are used at every level, like the letter tiles.  It's also easy to find used materials online as most of the materials are non-consumable (not used up--reusable).


Print Path:  Lowercase at Last

 Lowercase at Last Set by Print Path

(Free Sampler Here)

Before I was teaching my own child, I had no idea what the big deal was about different letter styles.  I saw no issue with ball and stick letters (or others).  Once I started teaching my son at home immediately I saw how the "ball and stick" style was causing problems with how he formed his a, g, d and several other letters.    I realized I wanted to teach him another way.

At a local Mardel's bookstore I found a copy of Handwriting Without Tears and loved how the letters were formed and the instructions on how to form them.  But since my son only needed help with a few letters, I thought I might be able to find something cheaper on Teachers Pay Teachers to practice with (and of course started by looking for something free).  I found the A Free Sampler from Lowercase at Last by Print Path that had all the letters I was most concerned about.  But as I worked with him I learned he was iffy on some other lowercase letters too so I bought the whole Lowercase at Last Set for less than $5 and it was worth every penny.  I really wish that he was taught with this style from the beginning because it's so much harder to re-teach something a new way, but I feel like this is helping him in the long run.

MATH

Math U See

Math U See helped my son understand place value, which he really struggled with.  The way they teach it is very visual and hands on, and even incorporates a story (a bonus for an imaginative learner like my son).  And once he learned place value it helped him with counting larger numbers too.

We got the program later in the year after winging math for a while, so we are still working through this book.  Actually, when we got to addition, we took another direction because my son, who had struggles with memorization, had a "learning burst" where we were able to memorize addition facts by jumping them out, so I dropped this for a while to focus on that. 

I did find that the lessons, while excellent, did take a lot of prep.  Not "gather things up" prep, but watching and reading prep.  Math U See is designed to help teach you how to teach your children, which is what I wanted, but sometimes I had trouble taking the time to do the learning I needed to teach him this way.  Some people just show the videos directly to their children (which are designed to show how to teach the lessons).  While I see where that might make things easier, it didn't work for us.

So, I'm not sure whether I'm going to keep using this or try something else.  

UPDATE:   I did later decide to use something else, something more scripted (Addition Facts that Stick/Subtraction Facts that Stick, and Right Start Math), though I still continued to use their manipulatives even with the new program).

SCIENCE 

This year we focused on three main science topics:  Dinosaurs, Weather, and Caves (which touched on a lot of other subjects...food chains, geology, life cycles, etc.).  We didn't use a curriculum for these, just made our own with a combination of activities we found on the internet, library books, cheep dollar store workbooks, museum trips, etc.   I'll be sharing the Unit Study we did on caves here on the blog some time in the future (still writing everything down).

SPANISH

Foreign Languages For Kids By Kids

I picked up a Spanish membership to Foreign Language For Kids through Educents, and their videos are the BEST THING I've ever gotten for teaching Spanish!  They are full immersion (completely in Spanish...save for the intro), but presented in a way that makes it easy for the kids to figure out whats going on and what the words mean.  My son was picking up phrases from the first video on.

When I got my membership, it included online access to the videos,  workbooks, and a few online games.   We only really used the videos.  The workbooks and games all required reading, and my child wasn't reading yet. I got a really good deal on a year's membership, but if you buy it at regular price I think just buying the videos are a better deal.

Though the deal I got them with is gone, these products are still less on Educents right now than on their main site. 

This post contains affiliate links (links though which, if people purchased products, I receive commission) to Amazon.com, All About Learning Press, and Educents.  All oppinions are my own.



This post has been shared on Throwback Thursday.

I'm now on Blog Lovin...and more social media.

Hey folks.  I am now on Blog Lovin...so you can now

  Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Cool huh? 

You'll also soon be seeing some other social media icons on my sidebar.  I've made a  Facebook Page and Pinterest Page too!   Twitter I'm all mixed up about.  See, I have several other blogs and I made a facebook page for each, and I am out of e-mail addresses and don't really want to make a new one.  I suppose I really should just pick one and use it for this but not sure which one.

IT'S BACK! FREE UNIT STUDIES (Through October 30)

 The Old Schoolhouse is offering some free complete Unit Studies through Educents through tomorrow, both for kids 8-13:  "Curiosity Files" and "WannaBe Series."

I've downloaded both of these, and though I haven't yet gone through any with my child (he's a little younger...so I'm saving them for later), they look GREAT.  These are FULL UNITS, and are very thorough.

The Curiosity Files include in depth units on all sorts of interesting scientific topics, such as Vegetarian Spiders, Blue Diamonds, Rogue Waves and Quicksand.  Though the focus is the science, they include  vocabulary, creative writing, handwriting, Bible Study  and in some units even a little geography and history.

The "Wanna Be" series is similarly in depth, and don't let the name fool you--this is NOT for younger kids.  Its a serious look at various carreers, including pilot, video game designer, veterinarian, missionary, farmer, military personnel, police officer, firefighter, doctor, artist, and chef.  If your child is interested in any of these fields, these units would be great for them to explore.

Get the FREE Unit Studies Here

Disclosure:  This post contains my affiliate link to Educents

Caves: Free Printable Book

I made a cave book for my kiddo while we were studying the Stone Age.   There's a lot of other uses for this little book, though.  The center is designed to be cut out revealing a picture on a second page.  Subsequent pages could be used using these two pages again.

You could use this book to make a story or non-fiction book about...

• Caves (of course)
• Cave Art
• Bats
• Hibernation
• The Stone Age
• David and Saul's Encounter in the Cave (1 Samual 24)
• Platos Cave Allegory
• Etc.

Here's what my son did with it for the stone age.   You can see he drew a girl, a fire, cave art, and a lizard.   If I were to do this again I would have the second page be black construction paper and then have my son use light colored crayons to draw on top of it.

You could also shrink the size of this (easy to do in printer settings) and use this as part of a lapbook.

Click Links Below to Download Pages

Cave Cover

Cave Blank Pages Template

More Fun Cave Ideas

Caves Unit Study

My Pinterest Page With More Fun Cave Ideas

My Favorite Cave Non-Fiction Book

 

One Small Square: Cave 

We did whole unit on caves lasting several weeks using this book as our spine last year after visiting a nearby cavern (really, it would be more ideal for reading BEFORE going as it has several activities to do inside a cave, but it worked great as a follow up too).

The book is beautifully written and illustrated, and chalk full of great information, activities, and experiments to do.  It encourages kids to look at one small square of a cave thoroughly...thus the name.  This is one of a series of various other environments (backyard, forest, pond, jungle, african savana, etc.).  

Link to book above is an affiliate link through which I

can earn commission. 

TERMS OF USE

You are free to use this cave printable however you would like in your homeschool or for classroom or other educational or play use.  If you want to use it commercially, or make alterations and share it for free, see additional terms at the bottom of this page.

ADDITIONAL TERMS FOR SHARING/ALTERING

If you want to share this somewhere, THANKS...you're welcome to share a link to this post and use a picture from this page (but please don't share the files directly, thank you).

You are welcome to make some alterations to this and distribute/share your altered version directly on your own blog or site, if you do the following:

• YOU MUST INCLUDE A LINK TO MY BLOG ON THE PAGE YOU SHARE IT.
• The resource must be offered FREE.
• You must keep my copyright info on the front page (adding your own info too  is fine...or moving it to another spot on the page, but it must still be there.  I don't care about the second or later pages). 
• Please let me know about it by sharing a link in the comments.  Most likely I'll add a link to it on  this page.

If you want to make alterations to this, but offer it commercially (for sale), we can work that out.  It involves giving me credit and letting me have a free copy to use myself or share with friends, but you will need to contact me at ecarian@yahoo.com to sort out the details. 

31 Days of Homeschool Blog Posts

 
Every year there is this event in October where bloggers of all sorts attempt, and sometimes succeed, in blogging on ONE  TOPIC for 31 days straight.   I am NOT going to attempt to do this...I am not that crazy.  But I am going to attempt to read some of the posts.

There are quite a few homeschooling topics in this mix...and to save you some time, I've listed all the obviously homeschooling related ones (and a few sort of homeschooling related... OK, so mostly all of the "family life" category could related to homeschool moms, but there are just too many to list all those!)

Note:  Some of these will list all their posts on the first day's intro, and others will not, so you will need to go to the blog main page, or possibly see if there's a tag related to this to click, to see the other posts.  


31 Days of....
Classical Education
Classical Homeschooling
Clay Play Fun
Confessions of a Public School Mom (written partially for homeschoolers)*
Crafted Colour Series 
Creative Homeschooling*
Dr. Seuss
Diary of a Mediocre Homeschooler
Homeschooling Made Easy
Homeschooling and Working From Home*
Kids Books We Love 
Learning to Sketch*
Lego Unit Studies*
Math Learning Success*
Life, Love and Learning Disability
New Kids Picture Books
Phonics Cards
Raising and Homeschooling a Child With Special Needs
There's a Book for That (books that inspire learning)
Tools to Memorize a Bible Chapter
Ultimate List of Homeschooling Questions
Useful Kids Crafts
Ways to Learn While You Play*

SOME OTHER ONES I MAY FOLLOW....
this is just here so I can find the links easily.  :-)

Tips for Raising Boys
Teacher Turned Momma*
Dates With Your Own Kids
Lies Modern Moms Believe
Organization for Normal People
Reset Your Home
31 Days of Texas
Christmas Printables


*Asterics are for my own personal use...please ignore them.

So, do you plan to follow any of 31 Day series?

How to Keep A Strong Marriage While Homeschooling

I was just one of many homeschool bloggers who contributed to this piece on how to have a strong marriage...while homeschooling.   My quote is one of the ones at the end, but you'll want to read the whole thing (there's some really good words of advice here...)

CLICK HERE TO READ

Our Homeschool is "Play School"

Ms. Stegasaurus teaching Calendar Time in Play-School

Before we had decided for sure that we would homeschool, back in the summer after his first year of kindergarten when we were still weighing options (homeschool, private school, repeating KG at his current school, etc), my son asked me if we could "play school."  We set up a little classroom in front of our magnet writer board, with a Stegasaurus for a teacher and various other toys for students.  The first time we played, he was the teacher, and some of the students.  I would have the students I was playing ask him questions, pretend to struggle with answers, and I would whisper the real answer into his ear if he struggled with answering them, or have another "student" suddenly remember the answer.  

Gradually he let me be the teacher now and then, until eventually that was my role all the time (I played as a dinosaur, or other character of course--funny voices and all).  I generally made up the lessons off the top of my head.  We had a lot of "new students" and would spell their names on a magnet board we had that worked for our school's "chalk board."   We practiced adding and counting and a little geography and even a  little science (usually learning about the habitats the "students" lived in...like the elephant on the African Savana, or the snake who's home was in the jungle).  The "students" had pretend recess and snack and went home in the larger toy cars at the "end of the day." 

It was a lot of fun...but not just fun.  I could see how my son was learning through this, and without the tears that often proceeded our daily Bob Book reading or workbook page I was doing to try an prevent "summer slide" (this was after a year where he had cried every day on the way to school, and made no progress).

But there were no tears over "play school"...in fact, he would ask to do it!

When we started officially homeschooling, we continued "playing school" too,  though at first the "regular" homeschool lessons were kept separate.  Then I discovered that lessons that he was resistant to tended to go smoothly and without objection when I just let the dinosaur teach them to her "class" (all the students, in reality, being my son).  If he pretended to be one of his toys when he read his Bob Book during play-school reading time there were usually no tears.  Pretty soon we were doing almost everything as part of play-school.

Half way through the year he started asking to "play homeschool" in stead.  That warmed my heart, though it didn't last (not enough "kids" in homeschool to have the interactions between the toys that he loved, so we went back to a "public school" style play school).

Playing school didn't ALWAYS work like it did when we started.  A year later, if he doesn't want to do something, just moving it to play school can't always fix it.   I know part of that is that he understands that "play school" is really just HOMESCHOOL, with some pretending mixed in.  And, I'll admit I'm sometimes less patient now with the "hi-jinks" of some of the "students" that interrupt lessons (they can be fun, but I can tell when he's just stalling).  And as much as I love imagination there are some lessons I need him to be present in, as himself, not playing pretend.  Other times I  just get burnt out on make believe. But it's still something he'll ask to do, even when we're on vacation from regular school (like our last month of summer).  That assures me this was still worth keeping as a regular part of our homeschool day.

 I know eventually he'll grow out of this phase where he loves to pretend--but I'm going to enjoy "playing school" while it lasts.

This post is linking is being shared at
Hip Homeschool Hop and Littles Learning Link-up and

Laugh and Learn Link-Up and the Parent Teacher Meet-Up

FALL EVENT DISCOUNT GUIDE

 

Do you have any field trip plans for this fall? This list might help you plan.  Below you'll find a  list of discounts, coupons and freebies for savings nationwide for events like corn mazes, pumpkin patches, fall festivals and other family friendly fall fun, organized by state.

Arizona
Tolmachoff Farms - Glendale
Mortimer Farms - Dewey
Rocker 7 Farm Patch - Buckeye

California
Pirates Dinner Adventure - Vampirates - Buena vista
Gilroy Gardens - Gilroy
California's Great America - Santa Clara
Big Horse Corn Maze Festival - Temecula

Colorado 
ColoradoKids.com Annual Halloween Guide
Anderson Farms - Erie
Fritzler Maze - La Salle
Mile High Farms - Bennett
Wishing Star Farm - Calhan
Harvest Farm - Wellington
Cottonwood Farms - Boulder
Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch - Longmont
Elitch Gardens Theme Park - Fright Fest - Denver
Denver Zoo - Boo at The Zoo - Denver
Children's Museum of Denver - Trick or Treat Street - Denver

 

Connecticut
Scott's Yankee Farmer - East Lyme

Florida
The Little Farm - Goulds
Lowry Park Zoo - ZOOBOO Kids! - Tampa

Georgia
Corn Dawgs - Loganville
Old Freeman Farms - Sylvania
LEGOLAND Discovery Center - Atlanta
Funopolis Family Fun Center - Fearopolis Haunts

Illinois
Siegel's Cottonwood Farm - Lockport

Indiana
Amazing Fall Fun - Waterloo
Shipshewana Corn Maze - Shipshewana

Maryland/DCGreat Country Farms - Bluemont
Ripley's Believe It or Not! - Batimore

Michigan
Bavarian Inn Lodge - Frankenmuth

Missouri/Kansas
Beggs Family Farm - Sikeston
Carolyn's Country Cousins - Liberty Corn Maze
Legoland Discovery Center - Brick or Treat - Kansas City

Montana
Applestem, Inc. - Vaughn

New Jersey
iPlay America - Freehold

New Mexico
La Union Maze - La Union

New York
Wright Family Farm - Warwick
Pick A Pumpkin Pumpkin Patch - Esperance
Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Water Park - Queensbury

Ohio 
Blooms and Berries - Loveland
Beriswill Farms - Valley City

OklahomaTulsa Corn Maze - Tulsa

Oregon
The Maize at The Pumpkin Patch- Portland

Rhode Island
Confreda Greenhouses & Farms - Hope (Western Cranston)

South Carolina
Hollywild Animal Park - Wellford

Tennessee
Oakes Farm - Corryton
Shuckle's Corn Maze - Hendersonville

Texas
Devine Acres Farm - Devine
Fiesta Farm - San Antonio
Barton Hill Farms - Bastrop
Lone Star Family Farm - Stephenville
LEGOLAND Discovery Center - Brick or Treat - Grapevine

Utah
Hee Haw Farms - Pleasant Grove
This Is The Place Heritage Park - Salt Lake City

Vermont
Gaines Farm - Guilford

Virginia
Great Country Farms - Bluemont

Personalized Fall Placemats from AccentsForKids.com

Homeschool and Educational Link-ups

The following is an ever growing list of homeschool, homeschoolish, teaching and other educational link-ups where you can find great blog posts and share your own.  In addition to the strictly homeschool related ones, some of these are parenting linkys which specifically encourage homeschooling content, or general link-ups on homeschooling blogs.



MONDAYS

Literary Musing Mondays

TUESDAYS



Littles Learning Link Up
Tuesdays or Wednesdays

Now on Facebook/Instragram







WEDNESDAY

Littles Learning Link Up
Tuesdays or Wednesdays

Virtual Refrigerator
Share Your Child's Art Projects

What to Read Wednesday

at My Learning Table



A Little Bird Told Me
Homeschool and Other
Found in Regular Post
Link-up Won't Be Mentioned In Title

Winner Wednesday

TPT giveaways - First Wednesday of the Month 

THURSDAYS

Throwback Thursday - Tots and Me

Throwback Thursday - Living Life...
(Not posted every week)

Book Talk Thursdays

Blogging Through The Alphabet

Encouraging Hearts and Homes

FRIDAYS

Littles Learning Link UP

Friday Funnies, Flops and Fails

  Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers - Weekly Wrap Up

Homeschool Review Crew Link Up
Sometimes posted Saturday, Sometimes Friday Night

Saturday

Homeschool Review Crew Link Up
Sometimes posted Saturday, Sometimes Friday Night

Camera Critters

Sundays

Link Up & Learn

Daily/Monthly/Random

Sharing Time

Monthly - Check Sidebar for Link

Posted near the beginning of the month.

Homeschool Blog and Tell

(Monthly) (Past Themes)

Quirky Blog-Hops

Celebrating things like International Pirate Day,

Girraffe Day, Star Wars Day, etc.  Random times.

Craft/Activity Themes

Permanant linkies on various themes

The Bookshelf

Very comprehensive permanent collection of linky lists

organized by topic and age.

Homeschool Free Marketplace
Find their link ups under Unit Study Link-ups and Subjects in the top Navigation bar

The Ultimate Learning Directory
I've linked to the free resources...but on the sidebar you
can find other categories such as tips.   You can only submit things
in current categories, but come back often as she plans to add many
more categories.

______________

Even more!  Will be adding these soon.

And another great list

And another one.

NO LONGER ACTIVE

but you can enjoy browsing old link-ups

Manic Monday at Teacher Freebies 
An Educational Freebies Link Up

Homeschooling on the Cheap


Growing Up Around the World

Tech Tuesday
Using tech in the classroom

Tuesday Tutorials

OTHER HOMESCHOOL LINKY LISTS

(Just in case I missed some)

Mamma of Many Blessings

Hearts for Home Linky List 



 SHORT TERM PAST
  
2017 Not Back To School Blog Hop
(for sharing your 2017 resources)